MOSCOW (AP) - A Moscow court on Friday upheld a ban by city authorities on what would have been the Russian capital's first gay and lesbian pride parade, and organizers said they were considering flouting the prohibition.

The Tverskoi District Court made the decision as Russian and foreign gay activists attended an unprecedented forum on gay rights in Russia.

Organizers for the conference had vowed to push forward with the parade on Saturday - the 13th anniversary of Russia's decision to decriminalize homosexuality - despite opposition from many members of Moscow's gay community as well as vehement protests and threats of violence from religious and extremist groups.

City authorities cited the potential for violence as the primary reason for banning the parade - a decision criticized by European gay activists. A spokesman for the Tverskoi court said judges upheld the ban Friday, rejecting an appeal by parade organizers who had argued the ban was unconstitutional.

Mayor Yury Luzhkov said in a radio interview Friday that gay parades ``may be acceptable for some kind of progressive, in some sense, countries in the West, but it is absolutely unacceptable for Moscow, for Russia.''

``As long as I am mayor, we will not permit these parades to be conducted,'' he said.

The issue has split Moscow's gay community, many of whom say that Russian society is still too conservative, and that the parade will only provoke more violence from skinheads and radical groups.

On Thursday, protesters disrupted a speech by Merlin Holland, grandson of the 19th century homosexual British writer Oscar Wilde, shouting nationalist slogans, throwing eggs and spraying an unknown gas.

Police said they will deploy more than 1,000 officers in Moscow Saturday in case the gay parade goes ahead.

MOSCOW, May 27 (Itar-Tass) - Although a Moscow district court on Friday supported the Moscow mayor office’s ban on holding gay parades in the city, groups of sexual minorities are still planning to march along Moscow streets on Saturday.

Moscow police is tightening security for fears of clashes between gays and radicals. Organizers do not reveal where they are going to stage the parade. Originally they planned to march near the Lubyanka square in downtown Moscow.

Echo of Moscow radio quoted its sources in police as saying that about 1,000 police officers will be on duty in central Moscow on Saturday.

The Moscow government earlier rejected the bid to hold the parade for “problems with blocking motor traffic,” as well as “apprehensions concerning the procession participants’ security.”

Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov insisted “such a parade is inadmissible in our country above all for moral considerations.” He stressed “people should not make public their deviations in the sphere of organization of life and sex.”

Tverskoi District Court made the decision as Russian and foreign gay activists attended an unprecedented forum on gay rights in Russia.

Organizers for the conference had vowed to push forward with the parade on Saturday - the 13th anniversary of Russia's decision to decriminalize homosexuality - despite opposition from many members of Moscow's gay community as well as vehement protests and threats of violence from religious and extremist groups.

Nikolai Alexeyev, the main organizer for the parade, said activists would decide by Saturday whether to flout the ban.

City authorities cited the potential for violence as the primary reason for banning the parade - a decision criticized by European gay activists. A spokesman for the Tverskoi court said judges upheld the ban Friday, rejecting an appeal by parade organizers who had argued the ban was unconstitutional.

Mayor Yury Luzhkov said in a radio interview Friday that gay parades "may be acceptable for some kind of progressive, in some sense, countries in the West, but it is absolutely unacceptable for Moscow, for Russia."

The issue has split Moscow's gay community, many of whom say that Russian society is still too conservative, and that the parade will only provoke more violence from skinheads and radical groups.

On Thursday, protesters disrupted a speech by the grandson of the 19th century homosexual British writer Oscar Wilde, shouting nationalist slogans, throwing eggs and spraying an unknown gas, according to the AP.

British activist Peter Tatchell said that Russian gays and lesbians were deluded if they thought that only "quiet diplomacy" would improve the situation in Russia, which he described as a "climate of fear." He said the publicity surrounding the parade had provoked not only threats of violence but also a wider debate about gay rights in Russia.